Some help with an elementry card skill...

[ThatThing]

Hello, thanks for the good responses on my last post I did ^^

So far, I have been reading through Chapter 1 of Card College I. I knew I wouldn't breeze through it, but I didn't expect to get stumped on any of them. It turns out however, I am in need of assistance...

As I said before and I shall continue to do so, my deck is pretty old, I naturally knew some things would be harder for me but I have made it a goal to use it as my practice deck to use until I tear a card in it.

I have been paying more attention to my strengths and weaknesses with my deck, and I have found my biggest one of all, doing fans or hand-hand spreads. So far, I am trying the "conveyor-belt" style of spreading cards, a bit like this:

As you can see, his spread is very fluid, it flows like a gentle river, and the cards get in a almost straight pile that is very easy to square up afterwards. Alas though, my spread looks like a broken record, I would say my conveyor belt looks about like this:

(NOTE: I am not saying he is bad! This is the closest vid I could find that is accurate to how my spread looks!)

See how when he spreads he stops for a second? and his spread is not as long? Also, you can see the cards get into an ugly pile that isn't easy to square up. This is how mine looks like right now ( a little worse than that actually). Is this considered a decent spread of the conveyor belt? I do not think this looks anesthetically pleasing to the eye....

Lately, I have had more luck doing this type of spread:

(Turn volume off, music is annoying)

Again, his is very fluid and pleasing. Although mine is not nearly as fluid because of the age of my deck, I have gotten luck getting an even spread with it and I think it looks better than my conveyor belt. However, I have not gotten one good spread yet and I getting discouraged. So now I shall ask.

Is it perhaps possible to get a good fan or hand spread with an aged deck? I do know of the pressure fan but I cannot find a hand spread that works well for an old deck! There has to be one out there for me to use. Is it perhaps my deck that is the problem? Or is it ME that is the problem?

I just want some advice on this dilemma, I appreciate any help at all. I didn't think I would get stuck with this...
Thank You....

 

[MarcoLostSomething]

I have seen a friend perform an amazing fan with one of the oldest and most used deck i've ever seen.
But, at the same time, when i asked to see that again, he failed three times in a row.
That means that yes, you can do anything even with an old deck, but there's a degree of difficulty in using bad decks that might make you think you're not able to do something you can't train properly.
Consider that if you are going to dedicate yourself to card magic and card mechanics, you will buy a lot of decks.
This may scare you as a beginner as you don't want to spend too much, but playing cards are your tools, and they train with you. Of course, if you can take care of them they can last years: my two Bee deck i practise with have 2 and 1 years each, they still work good.
Back to the moves: you have to believe you can do this, try to mimic what you like: you have to push the limit, and learn to let the uncomfortable becomes the comfortable.
And buy a new deck

 

[Steven the Wizard]

I have a deck of Theory 11's White Artisans, which I have now used for over one year (most decks don't get anywhere close to this), but now they feel terrible. The stock feels soft, squishy, oily, and dirty all at the same time. I can still do most fans and spreads with it though, but it is harder. That is why I keep a deck until it feels gross, and fans become a challenge. At that point, I throw away the deck, use it for gimmicks, experiments, etc. and get a replacement.

 

[Josh Burch]

Some decks will NEVER fan. Some decks will fan after 10 years. I'm almost sure that it is the deck that is the problem, not you or your technique. Dollar store decks will never fan the same way as a brand new deck with an air cushion finish.